OPAA Action Alert

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, 7 members of OPAA met with two members of Dianne Feinstein’s staff: Sean Elsbernd, Sate Director, and Abby Ellis, East Bay Field Rep. Let’s not bury the lead: I’m writing to you now because during our two hour discussion, we identified two URGENT ACTIONS that groups like ours can take to make a difference this week.

HealthCare.

Feinstein needs personal stories about how the new proposed healthcare bill will affect you. When Sean said this, I responded “I’ve been hearing she needs these for two months now. Surely she has enough?” And Sean answered “I think you are underestimating the power of personal anecdotes. If you have been hearing this for two months, the stories are not specifically related to the bill proposed this week. We need personal anecdotes about how this week’s health care proposal will impact people’s lives.”

Here’s what to do:

1. Review what the proposal will do to your healthcare. There’s a lot of good articles out there, such as

· http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/how-affordable-care-act-repeal-and-replace-plans-might-shift-health-insurance-tax-credits/

· http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/health/aarp-older-people-health-insurance/

· https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/upshot/gop-health-bill-would-cut-funding-for-poor-and-taxes-on-rich.html

· http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-house-g-o-p-health-care-plan-is-harmful-regressive-and-wrong

· https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/08/president-trumps-health-care-plan-would-likely-make-health-care-pricier-for-core-trump-voters/

· http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/06/news/economy/republicans-obamacare-repeal-replacement-bill/

2. Write a personal story that shows what a specific part of the new bill will do to you or your loved ones. Here are some tips for writing an anecdote they can use:

· Realize your MoC and staff are extremely busy and you have about 2 seconds to grab their attention to read the entire letter. (Imagine they have 1 minute to share at the podium.)

· Don't bury the lead, speak your issue/situation up front: For example: "The proposed health care bill will raise my premium by $x,000 per month. I live on a fixed income. This change will force me to choose between buying groceries and buying the prescription drugs that save my life.”

· Describe situation/story in succinct detail: Who, what, when where, why

· "If this legislation passes, ________________." describe the harm/consequences

· Tell MoC how you feel: Violated, judged, scared, etc.

· What do you request? Specific legislation, etc.

· Do you best and don't worry. Your story is what is most important.

3. Submit it to the OPAA dropbox by March 18. We plan to help the Senator’s overwhelmed staff by highlighting a few really powerful stories, but we will package and submit every single one we receive. Please include your contact information (name, phone number, zip code, email). That way we can contact you if we’d like to highlight YOUR story and have questions, and Feinstein’s staff can reply to you as well.

Caltrain.

This is a local issue, but also one with a big precedent – for California and other blue states. If you haven’t heard, San Francisco’s Caltrain modernization project was blocked by the White House – at the urging of California Republican Congressman Jeff Denham. This is after a multi-year process and full federal approval of the necessary grant funds. Sean told us he’d normally not advise us to call Congressman who aren’t our own, but in this case “a Congressman actively lobbied and led the effort to impact something in a neighboring Congressional district, and he should hear how people feel about that.”

The White House’s choice to block these funds, which will reduce air pollution and traffic in the bay area, and provide 9,600 jobs, may be in retaliation for the Sanctuary City status of San Francisco, or simply a warning to those the President has already labeled his enemies. Jeff Denham, from Modesto, is the Chair of the Congressional subcommittee overseeing trains, and he successfully got every Californian GOP Congressman to sign a letter to the White House opposing Caltrain upgrades. This is not High Speed Rail, which would impact his district: it is not connected in any way to High Speed Rail or Modesto.

Here’s what to do:

1. Sign the White House Petition to fund Caltrain

2. Call, email, write Congress Denham and tell him to Butt Out of the Bay Area! We are not impressed by his interference in our transportation projects, and we’re not standing for it. Tell him to contact the White House, apologize, and ask that funds previously approved for Caltrain be released immediately. Modesto Office: (209) 579-5458 Washington, DC Office: (202) 225-4540. Fax: (209) 579-5028 Write: 4701 Sisk Road, Suite 202 Modesto, CA 95356

I’ll write up our summary of the rest of our meeting soon, but I want to get these actions out there. Please copy and paste to share widely.

And thanks for all you do!

Orinda Progressive Action Alliance